PAUL Scharner looked ahead to Albion’s date with Blues by admitting he had no regrets about rejecting a move to St Andrew’s when he first moved to England.

The Austrian made his debut for the Baggies in last week’s game against Spurs but his career over here could have been mapped out so differently had he chosen a different path half-a-decade ago.

Scharner, at the time playing for Norwegian club Brann Bergen, was pursued by Blues following a feisty pre-season friendly between the two clubs in summer 2005.

Steve Bruce, who was then manager, even made a personal visit to Scharner’s house in Austria in a bid to convince him to join Blues ahead of the transfer window in January 2006.

But dithering from the former St Andrew’s board, along with Blues’ loss of form, prompted Scharner to move to high-flying Wigan instead. Blues’ failure to land Scharner prompted a furious reaction from Bruce, whose public criticism of the St Andrew’s board was to prove a pivotal and ominous moment in their relationship.

Bruce’s side were relegated at the end of the 2005/06 campaign, while Wigan prospered.

Scharner admits he was sorely tempted by Blues’ pursuit, but he feels that he made the correct decision.

“It was a big gamble for me,” he told the Birmingham Mail.

“I had first contact with Birmingham in October 2005 and Wigan wanted me later.

“They tried to sign me in the January and Steve Bruce was very keen to sign me.

“I decided to go to Wigan because it was a new club in the Premier League, a new experience for a club like Wigan. If you look back now it was the right decision.

“I don’t always make the obvious choice, that’s what I’m like as a person and why I went from Austria to Norway, because I knew it would help me get a move to England.

“Birmingham had a lot of problems that season and hopefully supporters won’t remember this too much but I said at the time they would go down –and they did.

“It’s a shame because it’s a good club and I had a lot of respect for Steve Bruce who really wanted me to join.”

Scharner’s decision means he has yet to find himself on a relegated side.

He intends to keep that record going.

“In the end it was probably justified going to Wigan as it meant I never played outside the Premier League,” he added.

“That is hopefully still the case.

“I have never been relegated and I don’t intend to this season.

“A lot has changed at Wigan over the last couple of years, as it has here and Birmigham.

“I think West Brom is a much better club and Birmingham obviously did very well last year.

“Certainly everyone here is looking in the same direction. We kept a lot of players who were relegated and now have more experience. The whole squad here is of high quality.”